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Radar Love
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A long-time favourite of the Pete/Brian/Steve trio this early '70's gem by Dutch band Golden Earring is a showcase for the drummer. It has been modified to include an extended drum solo which explores the whole range of Brian's thunderous kit and exhibits both his Moon-esque dynamism and the finesse of Ian Pace. The rest is pure driving rock.
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Hotel California
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Mick's suggestion was received with some scepticism by the boys but they gave it the Aces treatment anyway. The result is a stonker epic which combines the Eagles' acoustic and electric versions with some of the band's own twists. Pete's stunning guitar work is complemented by keyboard voices which leave the audience wondering where the second guitarist is hidden. The package is rounded off with a full vocal arrangement.
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Bohemian Rhapsody
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It had to be mentioned! Was it blind audacity or a masterstroke? Again suggested by Mick and this time responded to with utter disbelief by the boys it became a journey of discovery.
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It fell upon Steve to unravel the secrets of this complex masterpiece, including (no prisoners taken by these guys) the forbidden "operatic section". After some serious homework the individual parts were learned and it was time to bring everything together in a series of "front room" and live rehearsals. You'd better believer there's a lot of music in this number and the task of distilling Mercury & Co's multi-multi layered vocals into a 4 voice arrangement was a supreme challenge in itself. The Aces are the first to admit they can never do justice to Queen's incredible original choral brilliance but what they have achieved is a clever solution which, if you really get into the spirit of the performance, is good enough to fool the ear!
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Otherwise the song has pretty much everything that makes the original great. There's no cheating - AL sings this in Freddie's key and the Aces keep it all as authentic as they can: everything is fully live don't forget. The boys would like to think that the great man would approve!
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